After a somewhat leisurely start, case law regarding the new restructuring plan in Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006 now seems to be picking up pace.

In Uralkali v Rowley and another [2020] EWHC 3442 (Ch), the High Court has confirmed the position in relation to the duties that officeholders owe to third parties involved in the sale process of a business and assets out of an insolvent estate.

On 13 January 2020, the High Court sanctioned the restructuring plans proposed by three UK companies in the DeepOcean group, under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006.

Will the end of the moratorium on evicting commercial tenants in March prompt more CVAs?

With the moratorium on forfeiture of commercial leases for non-payment of rent set to expire on 31 March, many tenants will be working out how to pay their rents. Using a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) may offer one way of compromising rents if landlords decline to negotiate a rent reduction.

But the road towards a CVA is not without its potholes, and there are two key signs that landlords are growing increasingly savvy when reacting to them.

On 29 January 2020, the Insolvency Service published its quarterly insolvency statistics for October to December 2020 (Q3 2020).

The United Kingdom formally left the European Union (EU) at 11pm on the 31 January 2020 (Exit Day) and entered into a period of transition. This transition period largely maintained the “status quo” with regards to restructuring and insolvency law and practice, primarily due to the UK having secured ratification of the withdrawal agreement. This made the arrangements between the UK and the EU fully reciprocal post-Exit Day and avoided the no-deal “cliff edge” Brexit, which many had initially feared.

Hot off the press, yesterday we learnt a great deal more about the proposed suspension of the UK’s wrongful trading laws with the publication of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill 2019-21.

Although the contentious background to the applications to restrain the presentation of two winding up petitions heard together in (but only listed singularly as) the case of Shorts Gardens LLB v London Borough of Camden Council [2020] EWHC 1001 (Ch) is somewhat unusual, these cases nonetheless raise some interesting points of principle which may be used by the courts in determining whether it is appropriate to restrain or dismiss a winding up petition due to COVID-19.

The extraordinary disruption to UK business caused by the COVID-19 lockdown has spawned much discussion about changes to existing insolvency laws to help businesses which are struggling to survive in this abnormal environment. One topic of discussion has been the so-called ‘light touch’ administration. Here we provide a quick overview of what this involves.

What do we mean by a ‘light touch’ administration?

Can a company in liquidation adjudicate? Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Limited & Anor v Astec Projects Limited, or what happens when an irresistible force meets an immoveable object?

“Art is born when the temporary touched the eternal; the shock of beauty is when the irresistible force hits the immoveable post” G K Chesterton